Counter-Strike is a game where the meta hardly ever changes, and once it does it is almost always due to new strategical approaches and grenade usage. New weapons are hardly ever implemented, which has meant the reign of the M4A4 and AK-47 for almost the entirety of the game's life cycle. However, in 2015 Valve implemented a new gun that changed every aspect of Counter-Strike as we knew it.

I am, of course, talking about the R8 or as the player base called it the "Revolver". In a new patch, the weapon was added alongside updates to sound and spray patterns, and it quickly shocked the entire community. With the ability to one-shot your opponent with a single shot to the chest it became the most overpowered weapon in Counter-Strike history, only costing $850.

Take a look at the short but amusing story of the most broken gun in Counter-Strike history:

Whilst the lifespan of the R8 revolver only lasted 48 hours it was a clear-cut indicator of how fragile the Counter-Strike foundations are, and how a single new weapon can abrupt the entire CS:GO scene. The gun was quickly nerfed to the ground and is now only used by players and pros for fun. Most notable is the Swedish legend "JW" and his usage of the gun after its nerf.

Fnatic

We are less than one week away from the start of the last ever Major in CS:GO history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 18 Majors. Today we have reached DreamHack Winter 2014.

Train, Dust2, Cache, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Cobblestone.

ESL One: Cologne 2015 was the sixth CS:GO Major tournament in the history of the game and was held from August 20-23, 2015 in the Lanxess-Arena in Cologne Germany. The tournament once again featured a total of 16 teams and a total prize pool of $250,000.

It was announced after the tournament by Valve that the event had broken the viewership record once again. ESL One: Cologne 2015 scored highest peak of over 1,3 million concurrent viewers during the Grand Final between fnatic and Team EnVy. It was also the first ever CS:GO Major where the Swedish squad from Ninjas in Pyjamas didn’t reach the finals.

DreamHack Winter 2013, ESL One: Katowice 2015, and ESL One: Cologne 2015. Three Majors, one champion – fnatic.

The Swedish squad from fnatic did the impossible. They showed the CS:GO world what true dominance looks like. The team won three CS:GO Majors, a feat no team had been able to match at the time. More impressively, they won two of those Major tournaments back-to-back.

And they did so at a time when the game was blowing up and when ESL One: Katowice hit one million concurrent viewers in 2015. CS:GO was emerging as one of the biggest esports in the world, and fnatic were front and centre.

During the Grand final of the ESL One: Cologne 2015 Major Championship, where fnatic were up against the Frenchmen from Team EnVyUs, the Swedish roster decided to show the world an unseen strategy. Something you probably never thought you would see in a pro match, especially not in a Major Grand final.

In overtime of the first map on Dust2, the heavy-stacked fnatic squad decided to make a huge investment and go all-in on their weapon arsenal by equipping nothing more than four AWP’s in one round. Every player of the team set their sights towards middle doors for a potential peek by their opponents. And right after the round started, a completely helpless Dan “apEX” Madesclaire from EnVyUs chose to take a peek up at T-spawn, where he was met by those four snipers who all had their scope set on him.

Valve decided to immortalize the play by adding a permanent graffiti illustrating a Terrorist holding four AWP’s in his hands near T-Spawn on Dust2. However, the graffiti was removed from the map in an update in 2017.

The sold out Lanxess Arena had 12.000 fans together to cheer for whoever fnatic met. But the Swedes were used to play against the crowd and couldn’t really have asked for better conditions. JW, KRIMZ, flusha, olof, and pronax had a mental fortitude of a champion who know he can’t lose. They believed so much in their own abilities as a team, that even their opponents started believing it, feeling like there is nothing they can do.

When fnatic got intro trouble once in a while, all it took for them to come back in the match was a timeout. Nearly every time they took a timeout, they didn’t lose a single round for the remainder of the match. And that’s exactly what happened in the Grand final of the Major against Team EnVyUs, who was the only squad that was considered a threat to the Swedes.

The first map in the Grand final was Dust2, where JW and company came behind 7-14 against a French squad that was in complete control of the game. Then fnatic took one of their feared time-outs that changed everything. The Swedes fought and managed to take the game into overtime, where they drew the first blood to the series by closing out Dust2 19-15. KRIMZ and the rest of fnatic carried over the momentum on Cobblestone, where they came out on top with a 16-7 scoreline to claim the title and become the first team to secure back-to-back Majors.

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Highest rated players at ESL One: Cologne 2015:

1. {cflag:SE} Robin “flusha” Rönnquist (fnatic) – 1.38 Rating 

2. {cflag:SE} Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (fnatic) – 1.25 Rating 

3. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (TSM) – 1.25 Rating 

4. {cflag:SE} Freddy “KRIMZ” Johansson (fnatic) – 1.17 Rating 

5. {cflag:PL} Wiktor “TaZ” Wojtas (Virtus.pro) – 1.17 Rating 

6. {cflag:AU} Karlo “USTILO” Pivac (Immunity) – 1.15 Rating 

7. {cflag:DK} Finn “karrigan” Andersen (TSM) – 1.14 Rating 

8. {cflag:DE} Denis “denis” Howell (MOUZ) – 1.14 Rating 

9. {cflag:US} Josh “jdm64” Marzano (CLG) – 1.13 Rating 

10. {cflag:FI} Aleksi “allu” Jalli (NiP) – 1.13 Rating

Randomized anti-doping tests were conducted during the ESL One: Cologne 2015, which returned negative results for all tested players. ESL continued to implement this initiative for all of their ESL One series.

Tomorrow we take a look at the DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 Major.

KRIMZ

flusha

olofmeister

We are now only one week away from the start of the last ever Major in CS:GO history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 19 Majors. Today we have reached DreamHack Winter 2014.

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Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass, Nuke.

The ESL One: Katowice 2015 tournament was the fifth CS:GO Major Championship in the history of the game and was held from March 12-15, 2015 in the Spodek venue in Katowice Poland. The prize pool was once again $250,000, similar to that of the previous 3 Majors with 16 teams gathered to find out who were going to claim the title as Major champions.

Ninjas in Pyjamas, Virtus.pro, Team Envyus, and fnatic were once again the heavy favorites to take home the Major trophy. But all eyes were on the Swedish squad from fnatic who were coming back after the controversial ‘olofboost’ at the previous Major (DreamHack Winter 2014).

fnatic were looking to silence their haters who criticized them for forfeiting the quarter-final against LDLC at DreamHack Winter 2014, while Envyus (ex Team LDLC) were hoping to become the first CS:GO team to win back to back Major. Ninjas in Pyjamas’ roster also went in to the tournament full of hopes and were looking to reach their fifth final appearance.

As mentioned, the Swedes from fnatic didn’t come into the Major event as everybody’s darling, but they really managed to show that they were able to bring stellar performances when it mattered the most. fnatic were the only team able to win a quarter-final without losing a single map, with their first loss coming at the hands of the equally impressive squad from Ninjas in Pyjamas in the grand final of the event. Overall, fnatic played a hell of a tournament with all five of their players stepping up to clinch their second CS:GO Major. This is how it all went down.

Before the ESL One: Katowice 2015 event, fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas had faced off against each other in two Major grand finals (DreamHack Winter 2013 and ESL One: Cologne 2014). JW and company from fnatic came out on top in the first ever CS:GO Major, while GeT_RiGhT and NiP claimed the trophy in the third.

The fnatic roster started off very strongly at the fifth Major event, humiliating Vox Eminor with a 16-3 victory and winning their next match against Natus Vincere to advance to the playoffs. Besides fnatic advancing, Virtus.pro, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and Team Envyus too progressed in the next stage of play. Here, fnatic continued their impressive form as they confidently outclassed PENTA in the quarter-final with victories on Inferno (16-8) and Cache (16-7). However, the competition was really shaping up to be arguably the most competitive yet as Ninjas in Pyjamas, Envyus, and Virtus.pro all progressed into the semi-finals.

JW and company faced Virtus.pro in the first semi-final where they continued their rampant form and stomped to a 2-0 victory (Cobblestone 19-17 and Mirage 16-8), with the Polish squad serving as the victims. In the other semi-final, Ninjas in Pyjamas defeated the Frenchmen from Envyus with a 2-0 victory to enter their fifth Major final appearance, inching towards a second Major title.

The Grand final was everything the fans had hoped for, especially the Swedish ones. Both teams were aiming to create history and would face each other in another Swedish Grand final. fnatic hadn’t dropped even a single map on their way to the final so they were slight favorites going into the matchup.

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Dust2, Cache, and Inferno were picked as the maps and the grand final was expected to break previous viewers records, which it did as two of the biggest organizations in CS:GO went head to head. In their third encounter in a Major Grand final, fnatic started off by winning Dust2 16-14 after a very close fight and looked to quickly wrap up the action on the next, but lost as NiP equalized the series score with a 10-16 victory on Cache.

On the decider of Inferno, fnatic started things off aggressively on the CT side and gained a 11-4 lead before switching sides. GeT_RiGhT and company were once again in need of a comeback to seal the championship. They fought bitterly to climb back on the scoreboard and managed to grind some rounds, but fnatic had too big of a lead to be overturned as they went on to close out the map with a 16-13 scoreline to clinch their second Major title.

fnatic’s olofmeister was awarded the MVP for his incredible and consistent performances throughout the event. The Swedish squad from fnatic truly silenced all their haters and laid a marker for the future. Their Major victory at the event was just a glimpse of what the roster was about to achieve in the following year.

Highest rated players at ESL One: Katowice 2015:

1. {cflag:SE} Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer (fnatic) – 1.31 Rating 

2. {cflag:NO} Håvard “rain” Nygaard (LGB) – 1.27 Rating 

3. {cflag:PL} Filip “NEO” Kubski (Virtus.pro) – 1.27 Rating 

4. {cflag:RU} Denis “seized” Kostin (NAVI) – 1.24 Rating 

5. {cflag:SE} Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund (NiP) – 1.20 Rating 

6. {cflag:SK} Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács (NAVI) – 1.19 Rating 

7. {cflag:PL} Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski (Virtus.pro) – 1.16 Rating 

8. {cflag:FR} Richard “shox” Papillon (Envy) – 1.13 Rating 

9. {cflag:DK} René “cajunb” Borg (TSM) – 1.13 Rating 

10. {cflag:SE} Robin “flusha” Rönnquist (fnatic) – 1.12 Rating

The Grand final between the two Swedish rosters was the most viewed match in the history of CS:GO with 980k viewers. This was a new esports record at the time for Counter-Strike.

The event also saw the debut of the Brazilian godfather Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo.

Tomorrow we take a look at the ESL One: Cologne 2015 event.

Ninjas in Pyjamas

We are less than two weeks away from the start of the BLAST.tv Major in Paris which will be the last CS:GO Major in history. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all previous 18 Majors.

MVP: [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/jw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jesper 'JW' Wecksell"}]

Map pool: Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, and Train.

The first CS:GO Major to take place was the DreamHack Winter 2013. Before then there had been several big tournaments, but this marked the first time that Valve (the developer of the game) actively went into the planning of a tournament, which gave place for the "Major" term to be used. Valve announced DreamHack as the tournament organizer.

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DreamHack Winter 2013 started on the 28th of November 2013. The first match to be played at a Major was Fnatic vs Natus Vincere. The tournament was dominated by Sweden, which had a total of 21 players participating including tournament favorites from Ninjas in Pyjamas. Alongside the French/Belgian roster from VeryGames, NIP was seen as the team to beat at the tournament.

In this video, you can see a comprehensive recap of the tournament.

Despite an excellent showing from Richard 'shox' Papillon, VeryGames lost one of their group matches, which ended up pairing them with Ninjas in Pyjamas already in the Semi-Finals. Here NIP dismantled the Frenchmen and qualified for the Grand Final, where they could look forward to an all-Swedish affair against Fnatic. At that time Fnatic had just switched from a Danish roster with Finn 'Karrrigan' Andersen and Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth to an all-Swedish roster with now-legendary names as Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Robin "flusha" Rönnquist. The new roster had made a flawless run at the tournament under excellent guidance from in-game leader Markus "pronax" Wallsten.

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In the Grand Final, it all came down to the decider map, Train. Here Jesper "JW" Wecksell (in photo) earned his nickname "Wonderchild". The young Swede annihilated his fellow countrymen going 23-8 in K-D and scoring a 2.04 HTLV rating. Fnatic won the decider map 16-2 to claim the first Major title in history. The "Wonderchild" was named the MVP of the tournament.

Highest rated players at DreamHack Winter 2013:

1. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/jw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jesper 'JW' Wecksell"}] (Fnatic) - 1.26 rating

2. {cflag:DK} Morten 'coloN' Johansen (Reason) - 1.25 rating

3. {cflag:PL} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/snax","isNewTab":true,"text":"Janusz 'Snax' Pogorzelski"}] (Universal Soldiers) - 1.22 rating

4. {cflag:US} Spencer 'Hiko' Martin (Complexity) - 1.21 rating

5. {cflag:SE} Andreas 'znajder' Lindberg (Fnatic) - 1.20 rating

6. {cflag:SE} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/flusha","isNewTab":true,"text":"Robin 'flusha' Rönnquist"}] (Fnatic) - 1.19 rating

7. {cflag:DK} [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/xyp9x","isNewTab":true,"text":"Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth"}] (Copenhagen Wolves) - 1.18 rating

8. {cflag:RU} Denis 'seized' Kostin (Natus Vincere) - 1.18 rating

9. {cflag:SE} Dennis 'dennis' Edman (LGB) - 1.16 rating

10. {cflag:DK} Nicolaj 'Nico' Jensen (Copenhagen Wolves) - 1.14 rating

Xyp9x

Snax

karrigan

A look back on all the Majors in history. We start with the first in Sweden in 2013.

compLexity Gaming

Former Fnatic legend Jesper "JW" Wecksell is the man in the spotlight after he managed to pull off an impressive flick on Overpass. 

14-13 on the scoreline, EYBALLERS and JW had to make the comeback in order to take the win on Overpass. With ice in his veins, the 28-year-old AWPer decides to play aggressively outside the toilets. While trying to push for info and maybe get a kill, a Nexus player starts shooting at the fnatic legend, what looked like a free kill for the Nexus rifler smekk ended up being an insane flick kill made by JW.

Watch JW use the AWP to perfection right here:

EYEBALLERS ended up winning Overpass in overtime 19-17. However, Nexus fought their way back and won the series 2-1. 

EYEBALLERS

The 27-year-old Jesper "JW" Wecksell is the true knife king in pro-CSGO. The AWPer himself has got outrageous many knifes kill doing his career as a professional CunterStrike player. The Sweeden has won three major trophies, 1 major MVP, and 1 Dream hack winter and ESEA Finals MVP.

Despite being called out as a top ten player in the world three years in a row, JW still goes for knife kills doing a crucial round against the top-tier teams.

Watch this impressive Knifemovie starring JW:

Jesper "JW" Wecksell is currently playing for the Swedish team EYEBALLERS where he is playing side by side with an old friend Robin "flusha" Rönnquist.

One of the most legendary AWPers in the game, Jesper 'JW' Wecksell, is back with some signature flashy gameplay. The three-time major winner, who now plies trade for EYEBALLERS, helped his team take down Dynamo Eclot in the 1xBet Series with a spectacular ace.

In a 3v5 situation, the former fnatic star was transported back in time and stood tall on the defense. The Swede, all by his lonesome, delivered death to the entire enemy squad in just 13 seconds. 

[twitchClip:CloudyAliveManateeFUNgineer-ysITnlyCzdHnj0fO]

When thinking about iconic CS:GO nations it would be impossible not to stumble upon Sweden. You probably think of fnatic and NiP when thinking about the iconic Swedish teams in the past, and you are not wrong. A name, however, that has been unrightfully forgotten in the world of Counter-Strike is the EYEBALLERS. Legendary duo "JW" and "flusha" will seek to add further to the EYEBALLERS legacy after it has been announced that the Hellraisers roster will be playing under the EYEBALLERS name from now on. 

Not only will "JW" be playing as a player in the active roster, but he is also the CEO of the new EYEBALLERS organization. After buying the rights from previous owners "JW" states that he will seek to strengthen Swedish Counter-Strike and to help young Scandinavian prospects: 

Whilst winning is, of course, a priority for the new EYEBALLERS roster, "flusha" further backs "JW" mission and states that there are also additional goals with the new project: 

The best teams in the world are right now gathered in Antwerp to compete for the 17th iteration of the CS:GO Major in history.

But how much has changed from the first CS:GO Major in Jönköping, Sweden in 2013 until now? We asked CS:GO pro Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen to take a look at the demo from the Grand Final in 2013 between Fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas compared to the 2021 Grand Final between NAVI and G2.

Remember to watch our other videos with NaToSaphiX. You can find them via the links below.

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Natus Vincere

Whilst the legendary times of the fnatic era seem to be a saga of the past, they have been responsible for many of CS:GO's best moments and craziest highlights in the past. One of the old fnatic players that have made for, arguably, some of the most entertaining highlights in CS:GO's history is Jesper "JW" Wecksell. 

The now 27-year-old AWP'er from Sweden is playing alongside his equally iconic teammate in "flusha" for the Hellslayers roster. Whilst it is clear that they are not performing on the same level as they were in the golden days of fnatic, "JW" still has the same sneaky plays in his arsenal. 

When playing against the Dignitas, housing some of Sweden's other legendary players, "JW" put his sneaky ways to the test once again and with great success. Thanks to early chaos and plenty of smokes on Inferno's "banana" section, the Swedish AWP'er moved past the two CT-sided players without anyone noticing. After having passed the two players, "JW" sneaked his way over to the A-site, found to oblivious opponents with their backs turned, and singlehandedly won the entire round. 

Take a look at the sneaky, intelligent, and round-defining play by the iconic "JW": 

[twitchClip:RudeLittleRaisinBatChest-6a-vKx3x0_IqIR1Q]

Hellslayers

Robin “flusha” Rönnquist will not play under the GORILLAZ-banner going into next year, the Swede has confirmed on Monday via his [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/flusha/status/1467886099838210053","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitter"}]. In the announcement, flusha affirms that he’s still committed to playing competitive esports as he states “Looking for new opportunities next year”.  

The former Fnatic profile and three-time Major winner is therefore set to leave the CS:GO project, which he co-founded with Miikka "⁠suNny⁠" Kemppi back in April this year. The experienced duo joined forces with suNny’s countryman and former ENCE star Jere "⁠sergej⁠" Salo alongside the likes of Buğra “Calyx” Arkın and Rokas “EspiranTo” Milasauskas. However, the international mix didn’t manage to find a consistent level or any particular success in the tier-2 scene.  

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Since its creation, GORILLAZ hasn’t had a stable lineup where multiple players have been in and out of the team, either on trial or as stand-ins. Some of the most renowned names are Jesper "JW" Wecksell, Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen, and Yasin "xfl0ud" Koç.

{cflag:EE} Anton "⁠supra⁠" Tšernobai (trial)

sergej

suNny

NaToSaphiX

Calyx

xfl0ud

GORILLAZ

Jesper "JW" Wecksell is no longer to wear the black and orange jersey of fnatic - the team he has represented since 2013. The AWP'er is almost synonymous with fnatic and it is impossible not to mention "JW" when talking about the golden days of fnatic. Now it has been officially announced that the 26-year-old Swede is parting ways with the organization and entering free agency. 

Throughout the nearly eight years that "JW" has spent wearing a fnatic jersey, he has collected three Major trophies, finished in the top 20 three times, and collected a total of 22 notable trophies at various LAN events. Together with his teammates at fnatic, "JW" has created many incredible highlights and moments that any true CS:GO fan will cherish and remember. Take a look at some of the best moments produced by the iconic Swede: 

Despite the shocking news of the 26-year-old superstar leaving his home in fnatic, "JW" fans across the world won't have to wait for long until they can see him in action once again. Rekindling an old friendship between himself and "flusha" he has been signed up for the IEM Open Winter Qualifier for GORILLAZ. Whether or not he will become a permanent member of the organization is still unsure. 

With the news of "JW" leaving, fnatic fans might be left scratching their heads as they had just removed their other AWP'er within the roster in "Jackinho". This, of course, means that fnatic will seek to find the missing piece to their puzzle in a new AWP'er. Academy player Iulian "regali" Harjău will try to fill the big shoes of "JW" for the time being.  

The current fnatic roster looks as follows: 

{cflag:RO} Iulian "regali" Harjău (stand-in) 

With all the surprise storylines of the tournament so far, we are eager to see, if we will see another huge upset at the tournament, where number 3, 5, and 6 in the world (G2, Virtus.pro, and Astralis) have already been knocked out. 

Together with Gambit, s1mple and his teammates have been the most consistent team in 2021. The inclusion of [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/b1tgod","isNewTab":true,"text":"Valerii 'b1t' Vakhovskyi"}] as a permanent fifth man has been a solid move from the CIS Organization. The young Ukrainian has produced some solid numbers, that helped his team to a great victory at IEM Cologne. The team starts their run at ESL Pro League with a match against Fnatic, where they are huge favorites to take home the three points. We also have them as clear favorites to win the group.

Judged by their individual skills, FaZe ranks as one of the best teams in the world. Their excellent showing at IEM Cologne gave some much-needed hope for the team. The question is, how will FaZe perform back online? The team has had horrible performances online in 2021, so what FaZe team will we get to see at Pro League? We think they will carry on the good form from IEM Cologne and show some of the moves, that made them beat Gambit in their last tournament. 

There is a potential big match coming up in the last round of Group C. mousesports and BIG collides in a battle, that very well could determine who books the last spot in the playoffs. Since the roster move that saw in-game leader [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/karrigan","isNewTab":true,"text":"Finn 'karrigan' Andersen"}] switch to FaZe bringing in Australia's finest [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/dexter","isNewTab":true,"text":"Christopher 'dexter' Nong"}] as his replacement, the trend has been positive for mouz, who has improved throughout 2021 with one exemption. At IEM Cologne the team lost both their opening matches and caused the team to crash out of the main tournament in the last position. We do think, that the team is strong enough to make it out of this group in third.

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You should never write off the Germans! In reality, BIG could end up anywhere from 1st to 4th in this group, but given the circumstances of them making a late roster move, we have placed them in the bottom of their range. [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/xantares","isNewTab":true,"text":"İsmailсan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş"}] and his impressive firepower are gone and replaced by the 26-year-old Dane, [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/gade","isNewTab":true,"text":"Nicklas 'gade' Gade"}], who has some big shoes to fill. The former North player joined the team in the beginning of the month, and it will be interesting to see, how the roster change will affect the team.

A new chapter in the book of Fnatic was written with the signing of the two Englishmen [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/alex-1","isNewTab":true,"text":"Alex 'ALEX' McMeekin"}], and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/mezii","isNewTab":true,"text":"William 'mezii' Merriman"}]. For the first time in history, the team will not be entirely Swedish. The move that sent [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/golden","isNewTab":true,"text":"Maikil 'Golden' Kunda Selim"}], and [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/jw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jesper 'JW' Wecksell"}] on the bench is being tested for the first time at ESL Pro League. The team has dropped down to number 65 in the world, their lowest position on the world rankings since August 2016. We have not seen a competitive match from Fnatic in two months, so it is hard to predict, where they will land in this group. One thing is for sure though, they will be pressure tested right away with their opening match against tournament favorites, Natus Vincere.

We predict them to finish last in the group. A dangerous team, however, that can easily win maps from their opponents, if you underestimate them. Polish AWP'er Michał 'MICHU' Müller has been a good addition to the squad, but the team will be severely handicapped by the loss of their in-game leader [link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/players/stanislaw","isNewTab":true,"text":"Peter 'stanislaw' Jarguz"}], who is on medical leave.

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Evil Geniuses will be playing with their coach Damian "daps" Steele as a stand-in. A fact that has lowered all expectations for the team in Group B.

s1mple

B1tGOD

gade

Golden

mezii

XANTARES

ALEX

stanislaw

Evil Geniuses

mousesports

FaZe

ESL One Cologne 2015 was the sixth CS:GO Major, and the first one without the Swedish Ninjas from NiP in the finals. The tournament offered the world’s best players and had 12.000 fans together in the sold out Lanxess Arena to cheer for whoever fnatic met.

fnatic were used to play against the crowd and couldn’t really have asked for better conditions. KRiMZ, flusha, JW, olof, and pronax had a mental fortitude of a champion who know he can’t lose. They believed so much in their own abilities, that even their opponents started believing it and feeling like there is nothing they can do.

When the Swedes got intro trouble every once in a while, all it took for them to come back in the match was a timeout. Nearly every time they took a timeout, they didn’t lose a single round for the remainder of the match. And that’s exactly what happened in the ESL One Cologne 2015 Grand final against Team EnvyUs, who was the only squad that was considered a threat to the dangerous Swedes.

The first map in the Grand final was Dust2. JW and company were down 7-14 and up to that point, the Frenchmen was in total control of the game. Then fnatic took one of their feared time-outs that changed everything. The rest is history. fnatic took the game into overtime, and won it 19-15. The Swedes carried over the momentum on Cbble, where they came out on top with a 16-7 scoreline to claim the title.

Re-watch fnatic’s comeback and get a feel for the insane atmosphere in the Grand final of the event:

Fnatic are currently experiencing a transformation in their glorified Counter-Strike division, with the Swedes having brought in Alex “ALEX” McMeekin and William “mezii” Merriman. And yesterday, the iconic organization announced the arrival of a third Brit, in the signing of Jamie “keita” Hall.

keita has been appointed as their new Strategic Coach where his primary task will be the in-game performance by the team. Something, Fnatic hopes will make it easier for Head Coach, Andreas Samuelsson and his work with both CS:GO rosters.

Andreas Samuelsson talks about the addition of keita and what he will bring to the team.

- Once we had elected that the best course of action to rebuild the CS:GO team would be to adopt an international roster, the natural next step following the selection of players was to also assess the management structure. Throughout this complete overhaul of the team, we wanted to ensure that we did our due diligence, and put Fnatic back on track to the path of success.

Locating and appointing a new CS coach was not an easy task, many options were considered and assessed during this time of flux. However, when we identified that Jamie had suddenly become a free agent, we felt that he could potentially be that person to fill the role and subsequently approached him about the opportunity.

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The acquisition of keita comes after Fnatic last week announced a new international roster, after the benching of their loyal servants in Jesper "JW" Wecksell and Maikil "Golden" Selim. The British trio of ALEX, mezii and keita marks a substantial change, as they will be the first non-Swedish players playing under the Fnatic banner. The new-look Fnatic will debut their new roster at ESL Pro League Season 14 later this month.

Jamie "⁠keita⁠" Hall (strategic coach)

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Jesper “JW” Wecksell is one of CS:GO’s most experienced and decorated players, but the Swede has been benched by fnatic and doesn’t look like getting back in the team now that mezii and ALEX have joined up with Jackinho, KRIMZ, and Brollan.

JW was the MVP of the very first CS:GO Major tournament, but now he’s out in the cold, so what will the 26-year-old Swede do next? Will he switch to streaming on Twitch? Join another team? Or maybe even go to VALORANT?

Jesper “JW” Wecksell has had an incredible CS:GO career, from winning the first ever Major, to spearheading the fnatic era, to becoming one of the best AWP highlight reels ever.

But the online era has not been kind to the Swedish player, so what is the vital ingredient he needs to get back on top?

The iconic and massive CS:GO team fnatic has decided to bench JW and remove him from the active roster, the Swedish organization has announced. The decision comes after a strugglesome period for JW and fnatic, where the 26-year-old has posted record-low numbers in 2021 by only averaging a 0.86 Rating. 

fnatic's co-owner Patrik "cArn" Sättermon has touched on the decision:

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It's been 665 days since the conclusion of the latest CS:GO major. 

The StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 was the last major before the outbreak of Covid-19, which has delayed all major sporting events around the globe. But with the PGL Major Stockholm coming up in just 133 days, we can finally begin to be excited for the 16th Major tournament in history.

But how did it go in the last 15 events? We give you the list of all the winners and the MVPs.

DreamHack Winter 2013 Jönköping {cflag:SE} Fnatic - JW

ESL Katowice 2014 {cflag:PL} - Virtus.pro - pashaBiceps

ESL Cologne 2014 {cflag:DE} - Ninjas in Pyjamas - friberg

DreamHack Winter 2014 Jönköping {cflag:SE} - LDLC - Happy

ESL Katowice 2015 {cflag:PL} - Fnatic - Olofmeister

ESL One Cologne 2015 {cflag:DE} - Fnatic - flusha

DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 {cflag:RO} - Envy - kennyS

MLG Major Columbus 2016 {cflag:US} - LG - coldzera

ESL Cologne 2016 {cflag:DE} - SK Gaming - coldzera

ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2016 {cflag:US} - Astralis - Kjaerbye

PGL Kraków 2017 {cflag:PL} - Gambit - AdreN

FACEIT London 2018 {cflag:GB} - Astralis - device

IEM Katowice 2019 {cflag:PL} - Astralis - Magisk

StarLadder Berlin 2019 {cflag:DE} - Astralis - device

Fnatic - 3 golds - 1 silver - 2 semi-finals

Ninjas in Pyjamas - 1 gold - 4 silvers - 1 semi-finals

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	0	0
Maps count	0	0

JW

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